Karin Mosseri Couture

Karin is wonderful!
I recently got engaged (yay!), and I’m getting my wedding dress custom-​made from a European designer. Just to be on the safe side, I went to Karin to get measured for the wedding gown, and I’m very glad I did.
She really pays attention to all of your needs and any questions you might have. She also explains each measurement and even draws little pictures to help you remember it. Overall, I was amazed by her attention to detail, and the whole consultation ended up costing nothing! I highly recommend Karin for all of your dress/​tailoring needs.

I had the greatest experience having my wedding dress made by Karin! It was wonderful from the initial concept and design to the actual fabrication of the dress. She really listened to the ideas I had, and we worked together to come up with a dress that I love. She is an extremely talented and high end (couture) dressmaker. She put such wonderful touches on the dress — including antique buttons and delicate gauntlet gloves. I uploaded some pictures (the white dress, one shoulder, with folded origami type neck line). If you want something original, go to Karin!

Karin is extremely talented. I found her on Unilocal this past spring after being very disappointed in the selected of wedding dresses in retail stores. Being a petite frame, I had a lot of difficulty finding dresses that would fit, even after alterations.
The minute I spoke with Karin on the phone, I knew it would be a great match. She is attentive and quick to understand what you are looking for, even if you are unsure yourself! She made my GORGEOUS dress from an original vintage pattern while keeping the cost within my budget. Her meticulous skills and experience as a pattern maker meant that my dress fit perfectly and the details were spot on, right down to the correct proportions for my small frame.
The best part about working with Karin, outside of having a beautiful dress, is I had a blast in the creative process! Her advice on what will look good on you is solid and I suggest thinking hard before going against it. She is fair and honest, extremely talented, and a pleasure to work with.
Also, her wedding shrugs in her Etsy shop, KarinSF, are definitely a must… especially if you are getting married in foggy SF.

Karin is an angel. Period.
I initially met with Karin to discuss the possibility making a custom dress for my wedding day. She had great ideas, an impressive portfolio, and was open and generous with feedback. I met with Karin relatively early in my dress-​searching process and ultimately purchased a dress in a shop instead of going the route of a custom-​made dress.
After a nightmare scenario with the dress shop arose (in which the dress almost didn’t show up in time for the wedding day), I reconnected with Karin and she was wonderful about talking me through my options and agreed to help me out however she could to make certain I looked great on my wedding day.
Ultimately, my dress did arrive, albeit delayed and closer to the wedding date than I would have liked, and Karin did a fantastic job on the alterations. Although she didn’t have to change much with the dress, she approached the alterations very creatively and made the dress much more comfortable for me to where. She also made a beautiful sash that really enhanced the whole look of the dress. She had lots of helpful hints about wearing, putting on, and packing the dress. (I had to get it on a plane to my wedding location.)
My mother, who sews on a fairly regular basis, was very impressed with the alterations when I showed them to her, recognizing the craftsmanship and precise work that Karin had put in.
Karin was very communicative and responsive. She made the experience of having my dress altered a breeze. Thanks for everything, Karin!

Karin design a dress for me last month. What a beautiful dress and what a pleasure to work with her. Being The Mother of The Bride I wanted something special and she delivered beautifully and professionally. I love her work so much I plan on using her again. Beautiful design, beautiful work, professional and high end quality.

Karin is an extremely talented dressmaker. She recently made my bridesmaid dress for a friend’s wedding back in the UK. I took the pattern and fabric to her — neither of which I thought would ever suit me (color– or fit-​wise) — and she worked an absolute miracle. The dress looked amazing and, even better, I felt great wearing it.
Karin is a perfectionist and worked tirelessly until my dress fitted me perfectly — wrestling, in particular, with the bust which she had to rework entirely as the pattern did not work at all. She told me that she prefers to work to her own patterns, as commercial ones rarely fit anyone all that well. I certainly got the sense that Karin’s pattern-​making skills would be as excellent as her dress-​making ones.
She put me immediately at my ease and wouldn’t let me leave until the dress fitted exactly. I recommend her skills wholeheartedly… and hope I’ll have an occasion to use her talents again!

I had a fabulous experience working with Karin. She listened to exactly what I wanted for my wedding dress, and collaborated with me on the details. Her designs remained true to the feel and aesthetic of the dress and I felt that I had something very unique and also «me.» She was prompt, helpful, and explained all of the details as she went along. My wedding dress was one of a kind and added to a very memorable day!

Let me begin by saying that Karin is amazing! I hired her to make my maid of honor gown for my friends wedding. My friend literally handed me a picture of a dress that she wanted me to have made and after countless hours searching I stumbled across Karin. At first I was afraid to call her because I thought (because her biz name included the word «Couture») it would cost me an arm and leg, but much to my surprise it didn’t. Not only did she create a pattern for me but she selected and mailed me fabric samples, provided me with button samples and it was included in her price. I will def. be back to see Karin.

Because i really don’t want to cripple her business with this review and all the details of our interactions, b/​c she is a nice gal and works out of her home (with a lot of rescue cats). I’ll try to keep this to the point.
one star — the veil she made was fine.
one star — She did some additional bead work on my dress which was fine.
THE KICKER: I ended up taking my dress to another alterations place to get the neckline, bodice, hem, and bustling RE-​DONE on the week before the wedding. WTF.
yes, my dress was looking that terrible, i decided to just stomach paying for alterations TWICE. please please please don’t let it happen to you.
I’m sure she makes phenomenal dresses from scratch. I’m sure custom order wedding dresses is her strong point. But I really wish she had turned me away when she saw that she was way in over her head when she saw my off the rack dress during our consultation.
P. S. she made my friend’s wedding dress from scratch and it turned out fine (which is why i decided to go to her for alterations on my wedding gown in the first place)

Karin is fantastic! As the only out-​of-​town bridesmaid in my best friend’s wedding, I had to have my dress overnighted to me so that I had time to take it for alterations. Well, I got the dress on Tuesday and we were coming up on a holiday weekend. I literally had about 5 days to find someone and get the dress altered.
Enter Karin. I found her on Unilocal,and gave her a call. She was super accommodating and moved things around in her busy schedule to fit me in. She really helped make the dress fit my body, taking up the length, taking it in at the bust, removing some bon
The dress fits perfectly. If you have any alteration needs, definitely give Karin a call! You won’t regret it!

Karin rocks! I called her extremely last minute, my Maid of Honor dress for my sister’s wedding came in a few weeks late. I received it a week before the wedding… and it was about 3 sizes too big. I frantically started calling people and no one could alter it in time for the wedding, no one except Karin that is. She fit me in to her already jam packed schedule and finished the dress on time and beautifully. My sister thought my dress looked better than the 7 other women (who wore the exact same dress) in her party. I would not hesitate to call her again for any of my alteration needs. Thank you Karin!

I contacted Karin to ask her her help to take my dress measurements so that I could order my wedding dress online. Although she was busy she made time to help me get my measurements and offered lots of other helpful advice too. Karin did not even charge me for this service.
I have ordered my dress now and if I need alterations I will definitely contact Karin to see if she can help. I would have no hesitation in recommending her services!

Simply put Karin is amazing. Her work is beautiful and impeccable and she is a joy to work with. She not only created me a beautiful dress but helped me think over every aspect of my outfit and wedding day. From shoes to bracelets, the perfect knitted shawl (which she knits too!) and even our chuppa. Karin wanted everything to be perfect for me and even offered to lend me her own jewelry.
My dress fits me perfectly both in style and fit. She even found some some amazing vintage buttons I love when I was perfectly happy going with covered ones.
Karin is honest and direct and loves working with brides (which can’t be easy!). She took on all of my stress and single-​handedly saved the day.

Before delving into my review, I’d like to note that I saw a five star review for Karin, with glowing comments, a few months ago and now it’s gone. The other post I see here (¹⁰⁄₀₉) even mentions this missing 5-​star review. So please add a little more weight to my review since it’s going to mirror the missing review’s comments.
I am truly honored to own 3 pieces that Karin designed and created for me. My first Mosseri creation was my wedding dress. I did not want a traditional white gown – I wanted something that emphasized my positive features, was a good color for me and matched my style, which can best be described by classic with a modern twist. Karin came through. She listened to what I wanted, met up with me at Britex to pick out the fabric, talked me into a lace fabric that I love, love to this day and created the perfect dress for me. I also appreciated that she kept in line with my budget and worked around it. I went to a few fittings which is necessary for custom pieces. Karen was on time and very professional. I ended up with a dress that made me feel beautiful on my special day. The whole co-​creation process was truly enjoyable and fun. The quality of her work is exceptional. Every detail is perfect and she can add touches that you just can’t get from retail like vintage buttons, the way the piece is lined, and bound button holes. She is a trained couture designer from London and Paris.
I liked the dress design so much I had it made in linen. Now I have a nice, less formal evening dress that fits my body perfectly. Since the design was done it was very reasonable.
I also had a wool autumn jacket made. The last time I wore it, a vintage clothing store owner complimented me on it. She said it was made with vintage quality (she looked at it carefully) but it had some great modern facets to it. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Karin is amazing. If I could have all my clothes made by her I would.
Words of advice: if you are getting a wedding gown done by Karin know that you are part of the creation process: you’ll need to do a few fittings. Budget for this time and go with it – you can learn a lot from Karin. Trust her opinion – talent like hers is hard to find and she’s got great instinct.

I hate to contradict the previous poster, but I had a completely different experience of working with Karin. And while the dress she ultimately made for me fits beautifully and is really really lovely, working with her was much more difficult than I would have liked. The final dress is lovely, but there are some issues with it that make it less than perfect — something I would have hoped for in a custom-​made dress.
I contacted Karin on the recommendation of a friend whose wedding dress she made. My friend’s dress was gorgeous and reasonably priced. I hated the idea of wedding dress shopping — I had a day of going to those bridal salons and wanted to slit my wrists by the end of it! I also refused to spend $ 2000 on a dress I’d wear once… After meeting Karin, I decided to have her custom make my dress for $ 1200 — seemed like a good deal to me.
Without going into the gory details of what went wrong, I’ll keep it high level. First of all, Karin did not keep to the schedule she initially quoted me. She said my dress would be done end of July, which seemed early since my wedding is end of October. In actuality, I got my dress this past Monday, a week and a half before my wedding. To be honest, this wouldn’t have been a big deal to me — as long as I got it in time to leave town, I was fine. But since she really screwed up one aspect of the dress, the fact that I got it so late means I have to live with it as is, which I am not that happy about. As much as it seems like a deal to have a custom-​made dress for almost $ 1400 (the actual price the dress ended up costing), I kind of expected my custom-​made dress to be perfect. More on that later.
Karin said we’d have to meet «a few» times during the design process and then a couple of times for fittings. In actuality, I ended up going to her place 9 times.
That was all a deep inconvenience — for a person who wanted to avoid so much drama and focus on my dress, this ended up being way more high maintenance than I wanted. But the real issue of my less than great experience with Karin was the process itself and, most importantly, the final product. From a process point of view, the dress was never in the state of readiness she promised it would be when I showed up. And each time when I would arrive she would explain why she hadn’t contacted me in advance to let me know that the dress wasn’t as far along as she said it would be the last time we met.
Another example of this — and admittedly why I’m feeling so burned by the experience — is the fact that she told me that buttons (instead of zippers) are her signature and something you can’t really get in a store without paying a serious premium. This was a big selling point for me. And yet she put a zipper on my dress. When I asked her about this she told me, «Oh, I didn’t think you’d like how the buttons look.» Well, since it was October before I saw the final dress, I didn’t have time to figure it out. I could live with a zipper (there are some buttons) but in fact her decision to use a zipper instead of buttons actually ruined my dress. The zipper doesn’t work with some of the other design choices she made. So much so that she had to add these metal weights to the bottom of my dress so that the zipper would lie flat. «These might hit your ankles,» she told me.
Hopefully my experience was an anomaly. And hopefully I’ll get over it before my wedding so I’m not bummed that I spent so much time and money on a dress that has a glaring flaw.
If you do decide to work with Karin, make sure you ask a lot of questions and ask her to explain the consequences and trade-​offs of her design choices. Also, I’d get it all in writing.
Good luck!

Creating my wedding dress with Karin was the most fun I had in planning my wedding!
I knew from the beginning that I wanted something a little different… something tea length and kinda Audrey Hepburnish. I began looking in stores but, didn’t find anything that suited my vision. Then, a friend reminded me about Karin who had made her wedding dress-​which was gorgeous, unique and fit my friend to a tee.
Although, I thought I would never be able to afford a custom made dress, I gave Karin a call and gave her a general idea about what I was looking for and my price range. To my surprise we came up with a plan that would meet my budget. Karin has a studio in her home and this is just one of the ways Karin is able to keep costs down.
Karin is a consummate professional and experienced dressmaker. She has over 20 years experience in couture in London and has created patterns for everything you could imagine from the most elaborate wedding gown to wetsuits. She was always on time and ready for the appointments. She never kept me waiting and I always had her full attention when we met for fittings.
We began with a meeting to talk about ideas and look over her extensive portfolio and fashion books as well as print outs of pictures that I liked. While talking about what I loved/​hated about the pictures I saw, Karin sketched ideas of creative solutions in putting together the aspects that I wanted… full skirt, flattering to the waste, vintage and modern at the same time.
After we created the design Karin made the pattern, and did two muslin fittings. Then we went to Britex and picked out a fabric (everybody knows her there!) and then did several fittings to assure a perfect fit. At every decision point Karin laid out the options and approximate cost of those options. There were no surprises.
There were so many details that made this dress unique and completely me… the inverted pleats in the back, the vintage buttons, the intricate beading pattern on the front. Not to mention other less noticeable details like an adorable vintage lining, bra straps holders etc.
Karin also helped and advised with so many other details – my underwear, shoes, jewelry, hair, makeup to create a whole look. She also made my veil and although I already had my own jewelry, she also makes necklaces and earrings.
I can’t recommend Karin enough!